Drugs police are warning that the cheapest and nastiest mind-altering street drug is almost certainly heading for New Zealand.
Ya-ba, Thai street language for "crazy medicine," is thought to be up to 10 times more powerful than Ecstasy and extremely dangerous because it is seldom made to a set recipe.
Auckland drug
squad head Detective Senior Sergeant Colin McMurtrie said that because there was no consistency in the manufacture of the drug, users seldom knew the strength of the pills they were taking.
"Long-term users often experience hallucinations of bugs crawling on the skin ... often referred to as ya-ba bugs. During particularly bad episodes, users may badly injure themselves by trying to scratch or cut out the bugs."
Some users also heard voices telling them others were trying to kill them and could react by killing innocent people or themselves, he said.
After they came off a high they were often plunged into the depths of severe depression, making them vulnerable to suicide.
The drug became popular overseas as a trendy, cheaper alternative to heroin and Ecstasy. Ya-ba sells for between $30 and $40 a tablet compared with $80 to $100 for Ecstasy.
Detective Senior Sergeant McMurtrie said ya-ba had amphetamine-type properties and often caused users to commit exceptionally violent crimes.
Overseas police had shot dead deranged ya-ba addicts who "in the midst of psychosis had killed or attempted to kill innocent strangers."
The drug had already reached Australia and Detective Senior Sergeant McMurtrie said it would inevitably reach New Zealand.
"The Ecstasy market and amphetamine market in New Zealand is increasing all the time and this is just another one, plus it is a cheaper version."
Ya-ba was at the worst end of the scale of synthetic drugs, he said.
Two people had already died in New Zealand from Ecstasy use and anyone who bought unknown tablets from dealers could be heading for serious trouble.
An increasing number of young adults, particularly girls, were being treated for severe depression resulting from amphetamine use.
"If you look at the outside pressures that are on our kids today and tack on to that an artificially stimulated depression, it is not surprising our suicide rates are going up," he said.
Police say the two main problem drugs in Auckland are Ecstasy and methamphetamines.
- NZPA
